China’s Growing Protectionism and the U.S. Response

In the Fifth Annual Robert F. Ellsworth Memorial Lecture, Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky will address China’s growing protectionism and how the U.S. is responding.

China’s historic reform and opening has been the global economic story of our lifetimes, catapulting China’s economy, fueling global growth and opening vast opportunity to foreign enterprises. But in recent years, China’s economy has slowed markedly due to serious structural and social impediments, necessitating a shift in its growth model. Rather than embark upon further reform and opening as a means of recharging its economy, China has instead implemented a series of discriminatory, zero-sum policies that put foreign companies at a sharp competitive disadvantage. This approach is increasingly generating tensions with China’s trading partners – raising the question of how the U.S. and the international business community should respond.